AICAFMHA:
promoting mental health for young Australians
Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association Ltd
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Welcome to rtcUpdates for October 2004!

rtcUpdates are brought to you by the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health in Portland, Oregon. Subscribers to rtcUpdates receive occasional email messages from the RTC containing information about the RTC's recent research, publications, and other activities, as well as information about developments in the field of Children's Mental Health.

Feel free to forward this message to friends and colleagues. If this email was forwarded to you, you will need to subscribe to rtcUpdates in order to receive future emails. To subscribe to rtcUpdates, go to the RTC home page at http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/ and click on the "Join our List!" link.

CONTENTS OF THIS UPDATE:

**RENEWED FUNDING--RTC to Continue its Work through 2009
** FEATURED DISCUSSION--Strengths, Assets, and Evidence: Do Positive Strategies "Work"?
** NEW Website of the National Wraparound Initiative (NWI)
** FOCAL POINT--Summer Issue Available Online
** RTC PUBLICATIONS & PRODUCTS--Recently Produced
** DATA TRENDS--Recent Research Summaries
** FROM THE WEB--Online Information and Sites of Interest

**RENEWED FUNDING--RTC to Continue its Work through 2009

The Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health has been funded for five years (October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2009) to pursue an integrated set of research, training, technical assistance, and dissemination activities. Our work will focus on two related themes 1) community integration for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders and their families, and 2) strengthening family and youth participation in child and adolescent mental health services.

For more information on our plans, visit our Research web page http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgResearch.shtml

** FEATURED DISCUSSION--Strengths, Assets, and Evidence: Do Positive Strategies "Work"?

This month's Featured Discussion focuses on positive strategies and whether they are effective for enhancing outcomes. Positive strategies are practices that are intended to build individual and/or family strengths, assets, or competencies; resilience; and empowerment or self-determination. Positive strategies also seek to harness the therapeutic and development-enhancing power of positive emotional states such as optimism, hope, joy, efficacy, and accomplishment. Within children's mental health, knowledge about positive strategies is still rudimentary, but there is emerging evidence that positive approaches can be effective for children and youth with emotional and behavioral disorders.

We invite you to read this essay and post your comments. http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgFeaturedDiscussions.php

** NEW Website of the National Wraparound Initiative

The new website of the National Wraparound Initiative (NWI) is now on line. The NWI is a collaborative effort that seeks to promote the implementation of high quality Wraparound. The NWI seeks to accomplish this work through the creation of a learning and sharing community that includes a range of stakeholders with a high level of expertise in Wraparound. The new website includes information about the NWI and its work, as well as information and resources on Wraparound more generally.

http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/nwi

** FOCAL POINT

* SUMMER 2004 Focal Point: Partnering with Families, Volume 18(1)

Articles in the Summer 2004 issue of Focal Point include:
* Partnering with families
* Disclosure and reciprocity: On the job strategies for taking care of business and family
* Getting your money's worth: What early childhood program directors should know about working with mental health professionals
* Promoting inclusion in child care centers: Learning from success
* Underrepresented researchers mentoring program: One mentee's story
* Team practices to increase individualization in wraparound
* Wraparound and juvenile justice: Making a connection that works
* Partnership in evaluation: Training implications
* Family participation in out-of-home treatment settings: Challenges and opportunities

To read and download these and other Focal Point articles, visit http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgFocalPoint.shtml

You can also search for and download past issues of Focal Point and individual Focal Point articles from our Publications web page.
http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgPublications.php

If you are not already on our print mailing list and would like to receive the future issues of Focal Point, please add your name to our mailing list using the "Update or join our mailing list" link from the Focal Point page on our website. If you already receive Focal Point and your address has changed, please update your contact information using the same link.
http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgFocalPoint.shtml

** RTC PUBLICATIONS & PRODUCTS

* Publications Recently Produced:

NEW Walker, J. & Schutte, K. (2004). Practice and process in wraparound teamwork.
Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disroders, 12(3), 182-192.
Available from your local or university library. FREE reprints of this article will be available soon to order from our Center. Watch for an announcement in rtcUpdates.

NEW Cross, T. L., & Friesen, B. J. (2004). Community practice in children's mental health: Developing cultural competence and family-centered services in systems of care models.
In M. Weil (Ed.), Handbook of community practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Available from your local or university library.

NEW Green, B., Simpson, J., Everhart, M. C., Vale, E., & Gettman, M. G. (2004). Understanding integrated mental health services in Head Start: Staff perspectives on mental health consultation.
NHSA Dialog, 7(1), 35-60. Available from your local or university library. FREE reprints of this article will be available soon to order from our Center. Watch for an announcement in rtcUpdates.

NEW Green, B., Everhart, M. C., Gordon, L., & Friesen, B. (2004). Management strategies for positive mental health outcomes: What early childhood administrators need to know.
Portland, OR: Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health, Portland State University.
AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD FOR FREE from our publications page http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgPublications.php (search by author or title)

NEW Walker, J. (2004). Individualized service/support planning: Implementation challenges and successful strategies.
Portland, OR: Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health, Portland State University.
AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD FOR FREE from our publications page http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgPublications.php (search by author or title)

NEW Walker, J. & Tullis, K. (Eds.). (2004). Focal Point: A National Bulletin on Family Support and Children's Mental Health: Partnering with Families, 18(1), Summer 2004. (ENTIRE ISSUE) Portland, OR: Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health, Portland State University.
AVAILABLE TO ORDER OR DOWNLOAD FOR FREE from our publications page http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgPublications.php (search by author or title)

* Enhanced Online Search Feature

The RTC has an enhanced publications search and order form. Search by key phrases, type of publication, author, date of publication, and more. Many of our publications are available in .pdf format and can be downloaded free of charge. http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgPublications.php

** DATA TRENDS--Recent Research Summaries

* Parent-school and community partnerships in children's mental health (#106)
* Collective socialization and child conduct problems (#105)
* Suicidality among urban African American & Latino youth (#104)
* Resilience-based prevention: A multi-year multi-site program evaluation (#103)
*Employment experiences of youth with emotional and behavioral disorders: Perspectives of youth and their supervisors (#102)
*Are schools ready for Joshua? Dimensions of African-American culture among students identified as having behavioral/emotional disorders (#101)
* Evidence-based practice and a recovery approach to mental illness (#100)

Visit our "Data Trends" web page at http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgDataTrends.shtml
You can also search for and download all Data Trends from our Publications web page http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgPublications.php

** FROM THE WEB--Online Information and Sites of Interest

**The Meaning of "Family-Driven"
The newsletter of the Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health includes a report on work undertaken by an expert panel of stakeholders to define what "family-driven" means in the context of systems of care.
http://www.tapartnership.org/news/Sept04/familymatter.htm

**Youth Suicide Prevention Bill Passed
This article from the Bazelon Mental Health Policy Reporter provides an update on the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act. The bill was named in remembrance of Garrett Smith, who was the son of Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) and his wife Sharon, and who committed suicide last year just two days before his 23rd birthday. The legislation, which has passed the House and the Senate, is designed to reduce suicide among young people.
http://www.bazelon.org/newsroom/reporter/9-04.htm

**Mental Health/Criminal Justice Bill Approved
Earlier this month, the Senate gave final approval to a bill to address the growing numbers of people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. The Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (S. 1194) was approved unanimously by the Senate after House lawmakers also unanimously approved the bill. This legislative update from the Bazelon Center provides details.
http://www.bazelon.org/newsroom/10-12-04s1194.htm

**FDA Panel Urges Strong Warnings on Anti-Depressants for Children
After two days of public hearings, an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration recommended warnings on anti-depressant medications, telling doctors and patients that the drugs may cause some children and teenagers to become suicidal and may fail to cure their depression.
http://www.healthinschools.org/2004/sept16_alert.asp

**A Whole-Family Approach to Medications
Reports that some antidepressants may be linked to an increased risk of suicide and suicidal thinking in children and adolescents have raised concerns for families with a depressed child. Connect for Kids interviewed two experts and found similarities in their messages for parents.
http://www.connectforkids.org/resources3139/resources_show.htm?doc_id=211133

**The Characteristics, Experiences, and Outcomes of Youth with Emotional Disturbances
This brief from the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) examines characteristics of youth with emotional disturbances and their households that distinguish them from other youth with disabilities and from youth in the general population.
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=1687

**The Emergence of Psychiatric Disabilities in Postsecondary Education
This brief from NCSET reports that an unprecedented number of postsecondary students are reporting psychiatric disabilities. The brief provides strategies for postsecondary professionals, recommendations, and further resources.
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=1688

**Study Sheds New Light on Mechanism Behind Stimulant Medication for ADHD
New research involving the drug methylphenidate (Ritalin) is shedding light on how certain stimulant drugs impact the brain to improve attention and concentration for certain academic tasks.
http://www.drugabuse.gov/Newsroom/04/NS-0719.html

**Sex, Drug Use, and Teen Suicide Risk
Teens who engage in high-risk behaviors involving sex and drugs have significantly higher odds of depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts than teens who do not engage in these behaviors, according to this summary of a study funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
http://www.cfah.org/hbns/news/teensuicide09-10-04.cfm

**New Resources on the Olmstead Decision Five Years Later
Five years after the Supreme Court's landmark Olmstead decision, which applied the Americans with Disabilities Act to the right of individuals with disabilities to receive health care in a community-based setting, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines the progress that has been made and its impact on the Medicaid program.
http://www.kff.org/medicaid/kcmu062104pkg.cfm

**Promoting Mental Illness Education in the Schools
The NAMI Breaking the Silence Education Committee has developed a toolkit for use in elementary through high schools. The toolkit includes lesson plans designed to help put a human face on mental illness and reduce the stigma attached to seeking mental health services.
http://www.btslessonplans.org/

**Guidelines for Culturally Competent Organizations
The Minnesota Department of Human Services has published guidelines for health and human services organizations to enhance their abilities to serve individuals from diverse cultures. "Guidelines for culturally competent organizations" and "Clinical guidelines for culturally competent mental health services for American Indians" are both available online.
http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/groups/publications/documents/pub/dhs_Publications.hcsp

**Report On Animal-Assisted Interventions In Adolescent Mental Health
The Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of Pennsylvania has recently completed a report: "Can animals help humans heal? Animal-assisted interventions in adolescent mental health." The report reviews research evidence and current practice.
http://www.vet.upenn.edu/research/centers/cias/pdf/CIAS_AAI_white_paper.pdf

**AHRQ Child Mental Health Toolbox
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently revised its Child Health Toolbox, a Web-based resource on children's health care quality and other performance measures, to include information about quality measures for mental and behavioral health services that apply to children and adolescents.
http://www.ahrq.gov/chtoolbx/

**Putting Interagency Agreements into Action
This brief from NCSET reviews how interagency agreements can help maximize resources and services for transitioning youth. This brief describes the components of successful interagency agreements and how they can be implemented.
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=1689

**How Do States Make Collaboration Work at the Local Level?
The Institute for Community Inclusion published a brief entitled "State agency systems collaboration at the local level: Gluing the puzzle together--The staff perspective." This brief describes states' difficulties in making interagency collaboration work and gives an overview of tools that can help.
http://www.communityinclusion.org/publications/pub.php?page=newpubs#rp37

**Faith Based Initiatives With High-Risk Youth
Two publications from Public/Private Ventures describe findings from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention National Faith-Based Initiative:
1) "The promise and challenge of mentoring high-risk youth" describes an intervention model and findings, including the challenges and the rewards of utilizing volunteers recruited from congregations.
2) "Faith in their futures: The Youth and Congregations in Partnership Program of the Kings County District Attorney's Office" describes one particular model in the national initiative, with special emphasis on issues relating to court-related services.
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/publications.asp

**First Comprehensive Study of Website Accessibility
The Disability Rights Commission's study of website accessibility shows that most websites are inaccessible to many disabled people and fail to satisfy even the most basic standards for accessibility recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium.
http://www.drc-gb.org/publicationsandreports/report.asp

**Foster Youth with Disabilities: Ignored and Underserved?
Oregon Health and Science University's Center for Self Determination covers the special needs of foster youth with disabilities in two new reports: "Are we ignoring foster youth with disabilities? An awareness document for parents, professionals and youth" and "Transition planning for foster youth with disabilities: Are we falling short?"
http://www.selfdeterminationohsu.org/education/foster/research.html

**Foster Care Teen-Written Publications
"Represent" is the new name of a teen-written magazine formerly knows as "Stories from Foster Care Youth United."
http://www.youthcomm.org

**Influencing Public Policy in Your State: A Guide for Youth in Care
This guidebook helps young people who are in custody (through foster care or juvenile justice) gain the skills and confidence they need to testify at hearings or meet with public officials.
http://www.ylat.org/publications/index.htm

**Knowledge Path for Mental Health
The National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health at Georgetown University has developed a new "knowledge path" for child and adolescent mental health. This resource guide points to a selection of recent, high-quality resources that address the goals outlined in the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health report.
http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_mentalhealth.html

**Participation in Youth Activities and Substance Abuse
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in their National Survey on Drug Use and Health, found that youth who participate in after-school, community-based, church- or faith-based, and "other" activities are less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol than their peers.
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k4/activities/activities.htm

**Predicting Substance Abuse
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research have identified a set of characteristics that appears to predict a boy's vulnerability to substance use disorder in young adulthood.
http://www.drugabuse.gov/NIDA_notes/NNvol19N2/New.html

**The Causes of Juvenile Delinquency
The September 2004 "Juvenile Justice Journal" features findings and policy implications from the Causes and Correlates studies and demonstrates how such longitudinal research contributes to crafting a strategic response to youth gang involvement.
http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/publications/PubAbstract.asp?pubi=11800

Funds to support this activity come from the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch, Federal Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education.

The Research and Training Center makes its products accessible to diverse audiences. If you need a publication or product in an alternative format, please contact the Publications Coordinator: 503.725.4175 or rtcpubs@pdx.edu.

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Last Modified: 24-10-2004 12:23:58